Lilycove Girl
by Obsidian Blade
Summary: COMPLETELY RELOADED! Dayrin, Sara, Lewis and Tom are new trainers travelling from Lilycove city. But there are problems that root from living up there... the first being that they've a long way to go before they get anywhere close to the first gyms! r&r!
1. Krabby and Kingler

**Lilycove Girl**

by **O**bsidian **B**lade 

CHAPTER ONE: Krabby and Kingler

______________________________________________   
| TORCHIC --- no. 004   
| Type: Fire   
| HT: 1' 4''   
| WT: 5.5 lbs   
| Evolution: TORCHIC --> COMBUSKEN --> BLAZIKEN   
|______________________________________________ 

    Cassie woke to the soft golden sunlight streaming through her open window. The morning sounds of the waking city flooded into her conciousness and she rubbed her eyes and slid out of bed. Padding across the sky blue painted floorboards she stopped to stand on the creamy white woven rub by the window and placed both arms on the sill, resting her head in the cradle they created. Before her sparkled the clear sapphire waters of Lilycove bay.   
    Down at the harbour her dark brown eyes made out the fishing boat _Clamperl_ that belonged to her friend Sarah's father, the early morning catch currently being unloaded from the little ship into a waiting van by three Machoke. The Pokèmon worked happily together under the watch of their kind fisherman master and his Gyarados, talking together in their low rumbling voices as they passed crates of fish up the line and into the van. Mr. Briney would have been helping his Machoke in their task, but a recent injury stopped him from doing so. The super power Pokèmon didn't seem to mind, in fact, they seemed even more willing to help their training now that he was hurt. 

    In the distance Wailmur sent spurts of foam high into the air as they swam across the horizon, Wingull sailed the currents above fishing boats in the hope of grabbing a free meal. Suddenly one of them pulled its wings back and dove deep into the foamy sea, resurfacing seconds later with a squirming yellow and blue fish Pokèmon that it carried high into the sky. Cassie flinched, that Pokèmon was one of the weak Feebas, the small fish that eventually evolved into Milotic, one of her favourite creatures. Both basic and evolved forms were quite rare, so rare that the surrounding fishermen were banned from catching them at all. But you couldn't ban wild Pokèmon from doing anything...   
    Suddenly a brown haired head poked out of the window beside Cassie's and cupped her hands around her mouth. 

"Aquamarine! Drop that Feebas right now!" Sarah yelled, grinning at her next door neighbor as her voice carried across the bay to the bird. 

Cassie grinned back as Aquamarine swept low and dipped the Feebas back into the safe surf. "See you after breakfast, okay?" 

"Like always." Her energetic friend replied and ducked back inside. 

    Stepping back from the window and drawing the curtain Cassie quickly changed into khaki cargo pants, pulling the cords up the side to shorten them to just below the knee, and pulled on her sky blue top and dark blue zip-across sweater, leaving it open to flap in the wind. She yanked a brush through her silky golden locks and brushed her teeth, pulling her hair into a ponytail as she rushed downstairs and out the door, grabbing an apple as she did so. 

    "Bye mom!" She yelled to the redhead weeding the front flowerbed. 

"Going to the harbour again Cass?" Her mother inquired, sliding a dirty gardening glove off her hand and brushing a stray strand of wavy hair out of her eyes. 

Her daughter nodded. 

"Okay then, but be back before 2 o'clock and take Bolt with you." 

"Alright." Cassie put her hand to her mouth and blew hard, the resulting whistle achoing around the block. "BOLT! Here girl!" 

    There was a flash of green and yellow fur and an Electrike was standing at her feet, powerfull jaw hanging slack as she looked up adoringly at her owner. Smiling, the thirteen yr old reached down and scratched the electric Pokèmon's head. 

"Let's go." 

They set off down the street, Cassie leaning back a little so she wouldn't fall down the slope as she'd done way too many times before. As they walked she talked to the family Pokèmon who watched her through golden eyes as if absorbing every word. Sometimes Cassie was sure Bolt was absorbing every word. 

    "It's going to be great! Professor Birch is coming here today to study the sea Pokèmon down by the bay, you know the Clamperl and Krabby you like playing with? Sarah and I are gonna impress him with all the stuff we know about all the water Pokèmon around and maybe he'll give us Pokèdexes and starter Pokèmon! That would be so cool, we'd get to travel around the world and maybe become the League champs! Who knows, Mossdeep has two gym leaders, why can't there be two league champions?" She stopped and crouched in front of Bolt, scratching the Pokèmon affectionately behind the ears, "I'll miss you though. I would take you with me but mum says you're pretty strong, right? I want to raise my own Pokèmon, perhaps it can be your friend and you can play when I come home? That'd be cool!" 

    She kept talking all the way down to the bay where she could see Sarah and Aquamarine fooling about down in the shallows. The dark haired girl was giving her bird Pokèmon orders which she was happily obeying, sweeping high and low in an elegant dance above the sea. By the time Cassie and Bolt had joined the pair Aquamarine was perched on Sarah's arm as she fed her a smooth liteblue Pokèblock which the Wingull accepted gratefully.   
    Once she was done eating Aquamarine landed in the sand beside Bolt and they started a game of chase up and down the beach while the girls wandered towards the rocky area most of the seashell and crab Pokèmon lived. They split up in search of the one Pokèmon on their list they hadn't found yet; Cloyster. 

"Heeere Cloysterycloysterycloyster!" Cassie called after half an hour's search. 

"Hey, Ca! Feastyour peppers on this!" Sarah exclaimed from a small cave nearby. 

    As she approached her friend Cassie saw a tiny baby Krabby in Sarah's hands, trying (and failing) to pinch her finger so she dropped it. The crab Pokèmon was blue. 

"Wow!" She gasped, "Different coloured Pokèmon are really rare!" 

"Hmm." Sarah nodded, "Don't you wish the prof. was here now to see this?" 

"Yeah." 

    Cassie looked closer at the tiny Pokèmon and say that it had stopped trying to pinch her friend's thumb and was now standing still, its little legs wobbling with fear. 

"Hey, I think you should put it down now, it looks scared." She suggested. 

"I think you're right." The brown haired girl lowered her hands to the ground and let the baby crab crawl away, "Cute though." 

She stood up and turned around just as a large shadow loomed over them from the exit. Sarah squinted to see what it was, then saw the signature bone-snapping claw of Kingler. The huge crab took a few steps forward so that the light from a crack in the cave roof shone down on it. Kingler was a shiney red crab Pokèmon, the evolved form of Krabby, and had a pale brown underbelly. Its signature move? Guilotine. 

    "C-c-Ca?" She stuttered, "Look..." 

Cassie looked over her shoulder, only to see the same sight her friend had. The Kingler moved even further forward. 

"What do we do now?" Sarah wondered. 

Cassie looked around frantically, that Kingler was giving off the bad vibes. They must have upset it somehow.... But then she saw it; the little blue Krabby Sarah had been holding. As fast as shecould she reached down and lifted it into her hands before moving slowly towards Kingler. 

    "What do you think you're doing?!" Her brown haired friend hissed, "It can _kill_ you!" 

The blonde girl just moved closer, what else could she do? Bolt and Aquamarine were outside the cave and they probably weren't strong enough to defeat a full grown Kingler. She was now five feet away from the monster. Reaching out she opened her cupped hands to show the Krabby to Kingler. 

"See? Look, Krabby's all right." She held her arms out further, "We weren't going to hurt it." 

With the smaller of its two claws Kingler reached out and carefully took Krabby from the human's outstretched palms. A deep rumble emitted from deep inside it and the huge Pokèmon backed away, out of the cave and into the sea. 

    "Woah, that was close." Sarah gasped once the last bubble had disapeared from the surface of the water. 

"Yeah." 

Together they went outside, just in time to hear a familiar voice say, "Yes Professor, I found this Kingler down the beach and tamed it, that's why it came out of the cave when I was talking about Kingler." 

Prof. Birch smiled, "That must have been very difficult to do Thomas." 

"Well, of course it was, but that Kingler just seemed to like me." 

    "Like _you?!_" Sarah protested, her face bright red with rage, "You didn't tame that Kingler, it only left us alone in the cave because Cassie gave it Krabby back!" 

"Hmm? Where did you two come from?" Birch wanted to know. 

"You see professor," Cassie started, stepping forwards with Bolt beside her, the electric Pokèmon's fur standing out with furious static, "We came down here looking for any Cloyster that might have washed up and my friend Sarah found a blue Krabby hiding in that cave. Kingler are a rare species to be found around populated areas so we didn't expect one to find us, but it did anyway and we got away unharmed." 

Thomas glared at her and Sarah beamed, they had been studying all the different sea Pokèmon they might see just so they could talk smart like that when the professor arrived. 

    "So Kingler are rare around here...." Birch murmured. 

"We have plenty of other water Pokèmon around though, professor." Sarah piped up, whispering something to Aquamarine before she continued, "There are Shellder and Cloyster in the sea bed around these regions which sometimes wash up on shore, as well as Magikarp, Wailmur, Corsola, Feebas, Tentacool, Krabby, Staryu and..." She held out a hand as Aquamarine landed on her shoulder, a slimy Barboach held carefully in her beak, "Barboach." 

"They can survive for some time without water." Tom put in. 

"And evolve into the Pokèmon Whiscash." Tom's friend Lewis, who had been standing to the side, added. 

    Birch chuckled, "You know more about the sea than I do! But tell me, what Pokèmon live up there?" He pointed a little to the west from Lilycove, to route 121 that connected the city by land to Fortree and eventually to Mauville. 

"Duskelle and Gloom." All four replied in unision, daggers glared between girl and boy. 

"The safari zone is also up there and it contains Pokèmon like Pikachu and Rhyhorn." Sarah added, giving Lewis an icy glare. 

    "You all seem to know a lot about the Pokèmon around here," Birch noticed, "And I think I can see the trainer in all of you. Here," He pulled a thick brown bag from his back and opened it, placing ten shining Pokèballs in the sand. "Take one each. This is one of the reasons I came here for anyway, to find promising young trainers." 

    Tom gaped. "_Them_? You're going to give two little weakling _girls_ Pokèmon?" 

"Girls aren't weak!" Sarah protested, "And, even if we were, all that matters is _heart_ and we can beat you in that respect easily!" 

"If you're so strong fight me and my dad's Wailmur!" He challenged, whistling to the huge water Pokèmon that lived inside the bay. 

Cassie watched the giant beast rise out of the water and held back Bolt with an arm. "I'm not going to hurt your dad's Wailmur just to make you look worse than you are." She told Tom cooly, "It doesn't matter what you think, as long as I'm with my Pokèmon I'm fine." 

    She was crouched in the sand beside the Pokèballs, wondering what creatures were inside. 

"The Pokèmon are Bulbasaur, Charmander, Squirtle, Chicorita, Cynderquil, Totodile, Treeco, Torchic, Mudkip and Pikachu. Take your pick." Birch told them, pointing to each Pokèball in turn. 

"Ha! This is easy!" Tom said arrogantly, "I'll have Charmander 'cause it becomes Charizard." 

Sarah chewed on her lip, her brow furrowed in thought, "Hmm..." She muttered, "I just love water Pokèmon, and Aquamarine isn't trained to fight... So is it Squirtle or Totodile?" 

Lewis just stared for a second before picking up a random Pokèball. "It doesn't matter which Pokèmon I get, they all suit me fine." 

    Cassie had little questioning to do in her mind. Ever since she saw a talented trainer fight against her mom on the beach she had dreamed to own that Pokèmon and here it was! Right within her reach. 

"I want Torchic as my partner." She said with a nod and lifted the Pokèball from the ground, brushing the sand carefully from the sides. 

"Then I'll take Squirtle." Sarah decided and quickly took it. 

"Here." Professor Birch handed each new trainer a Pokèdex. "These are Pokèdex. In return for giving you a Pokèmon partner I want you to fill these up with Pokèmon knowledge you gain as you go along to help me with my research. Good luck!" 

    "Woah! Thanks!" Tom yelled over his shoulder, already running up the beach to get things from home to prepare him for his journey. 

"Your Pokèdex'll be filled all right." Lewis assured Birch before turning and running after his friend. 

"Yeah, thanks. This has always been my dream..." Sarah said, "Let's go, C..." 

    Cassie had released Torchic from its Pokèball and was currently holding out her hand to the shy little creature. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out an ARAN berry she had found just in case this had really happened and placed it in her palm. The fire bird hopped forward a few paces and very carefully started to nibble on the berry. When it was sure it was safe it moved even closer and wolfed the food down, allowing its new trainer to pet its soft feathers. 

    "Hey Torchic," She murmurred, "What should I call you?" 

"That Torchic is female." Birch told her, "Make sure you give it the right name." 

"I think I'll call you... Flame." 

* * *

_Yay! I actually did it! I'm surprised, never actually wrote a Pokemon fic before. Oh well, I want to know what people think. I know it's not much yet, but I just beat the elite four in Pokemon Sapphire and I got hit in the head with inspiration. Hey, don't diss my time on beating the elite! R&S only came out over here FOUR DAYS AGO so there. Heh heh, wuteva. Can't wait to read reviews! Mayhaps I'll do as well here as I do in the DBZ section???   
~SSD/OB~ _

BTW: I'm pitting this fic against my wimpy little brother's destined to be a master fic; who ever gets the most reveiws by the time we finish wins!! If you wanna have a look at his fic, click on 'The GREAT Dooping Marauder' on the fav author list to check out the competetion!   
REVEIW REVEIW REVEIW!!! 

    |  
    |  
    |  
    \/ 


	2. Ralts and Duskull

**Lilycove Girl**

CHAPTER TWO: Ralts and Duskull 

By **O**bsidian **B**lade 

______________________________________   
| Raltsno. 029   
| type: Psychic   
| HT: 1' 4''   
| WT: 15   
| Evolution: Ralts --> KIRLIA --> GARDEVOIR   
|______________________________________ 

______________________________________   
| DUSKULLno. 148   
| type: Ghost   
| HT: 2' 7''   
| WT: 33   
| Evolution: DUSKULL --> DUSCLOPS   
|______________________________________ 

  


    Cassie lay in bed, propped up by her downy pillows as she read through her mom's Pokèmon book and petted Bolt, who lay dozing beside her, slowly. Flame was settled down in a cushion beside her trainer, cooing softly every now and again in her sleep. With a soft yawn Cassie finaly put down the book, turned off her bedside lamp and settled down under the covers. She and Sarah had decided to leave on their quest tomorrow so they could all get some proper sleep first, even if it meant Lewis and Tom got a head start. Why did it matter? She was sure Flame and Sarah's Squirtle, Skittle, could take on their Pokèmon when they finaly met. She reached out in the darkness and petted Torchic lightly, it was all just too good to beleive... 

    The new trainer blinked three times, her brain still half asleep. 

"Torchi! Torchichichi!" (Out! I want OUT!) A Pokèmon's voice was saying from the window, accompanied by an ear rending scratching noise. 

Cassie forced herself to roll over and look at Flame, who was hopping up and down on the windowsill and scratching on the glass. On the other side was Aquamarine, who was doing the same. 

"Flame, stop it." She ordered, getting out of bed and lifting her fire Pokèmon off the windowsill. 

    With the other hand she opened the window and let Aquamarine in. Bolt raised her head sleepily from the bedspread and blinked at the other two Pokèmon before yawning loudly. Cassie petted the Electrike's head as she went past, skirting around the two playing bird Pokèmon and yanking on the same clothes from yesterday. Not the cleanliest thing in the world, but she was too lazy to get anything else out of her bag. When she was dressed Cassie shrugged her bag over her shoulders and clipped Torchic's Pokèball to the inside of her jacket. The bag was packed light, with one set of clean clothes, lots of clean under garments, all of her worldly wealth and her lunch for today. Her sleeping bag was strapped on top, the Pokèdex went in her pocket, as did the PokèNav and a few berries. 

    "Okay Flame, let's go. Aquamarine, you've got to go home, okay?" The Wingull chirped and flew out of the window all the way over the bay. 

Cassie turned to Bolt and scratched the old Pokèmon's head. Electrike sat up and put her head to one side before leaping off the bed and trotting downstairs. Cassie followed her to find her mom already there, smiling and holding up a Pokèblock case. 

"This was mine when I was your age." She told her daughter, handing it to her. "It's very usefull." 

The redhead reached down and petted her Electrike, "Go say bye-bye to Cassie, Bolt." 

    The new trainer bent down and scratched Bolt behind the ears, "See ya, girl. When I come back you'll get to meet all my Pokèmon, right?" Bolt just licked her face and Cassie laughed, "Yeah, bye Bolt." 

Then she went over to her mom. 

"You be carefull, Cass." She told her daughter, giving her a hug. "Who would have thought, my daughter and a Torchic. Well, make sure you say hi to Bill in Goldenrod for me, okay?" 

Cassie nodded, "Bye mom!" And joined Sarah who was waiting outside, Skittle by her feet. 

    "Let's get this show on the road!" She laughed. 

The pair set off from their home, buying a couple bottles of lemonade from the department store in the North of town before going back down to the harbour. 

"My dad says we can get to Rustboro faster if we go by boat to Slateport, making a stop at Pacifidlog for provisions, then through route 103, Oldale and then Petalburg to get to Rustboro than if we went on foot across the land." 

Cassie was doubtfull, "I don't know... I don't think Torchic would like that ammount of time at sea..." 

Sarah's sharp mind came up with the answer straight away. 

    "Okay then, I'll race you. You go by land and I'll go by sea." 

Cassie's eyes lit up at the mention of a challenge. "All right then! See you in Rustboro!" 

"Just don't keep me waiting too long!" Her friend laughed and they went off in opposite directions. 

    "Right Flame, it's just us now." Cassie told her Torchic as they left the city going west along route 121. 

The little bird Pokèmon cheeped lightly from her trainer's shoulder. It was still quite early in the morning and the grass was wet from the rain that had showered down on it from the night before. Puddles crowded the path, reflecting the bright sky above and the puffy cotton wool clouds that floated across it. Cassie sighed, everything was so peacef- 

    "Ah! I see you! Prepare to fight or be cursed forever!!" A voice yelled from the undergrowth. 

"Huh?" 

"Chi?" Both heads went to the side in confusion. 

There was some frantic rustling and a short woman wearing what looked like a dress and a witch's hat leapt out in front of them. 

    "My name is Tammy," She said, "And _you_ are a Pokèmon trainer! We fight now!" 

A confident look creapt over Cassie's features, "Sure. Flame, you ready?" 

"Chicchiccu torchichi!" (I could take on the world!) The little fire bird cheeped enthusiastically [sp??], leaping to the ground and getting ready to fight whatever this strange lady would send out. 

    "Goooooooooooooooo RALTS!" She screamed, flinging a great ball into the air. 

Torchic flinched at the high pitched note of the Hex maniac's voice, her sensative ears ringing as the blue and red ball exploded in a stream of red light that formed the shape of Ralts, the psychic Pokèmon who's mood was said to change with that of its trainer. Torchic didn't look fazed at all by this new appearance, if anything it looked even more eager to fight! 

    "Ralts! Flash!" The Hex maniac yelled in her shrill voice. 

"Torchic! Watch out, don't look!" Cassie urged her beloved Pokèmon, who quite happily stuck her head in the ground. 

"Reeeeannnn!!" Ralts squeaked, a blinding flash shooting out of it. 

When the light was gone Flame looked up, a look of 'ha ha you missed!' on her little face. 

    "Yeah, you missed!" Cassie yelled hysterically, the adrenaline from battling getting to her, "Cummon, Flame! Scratch attack!" 

"Torchhiiiiiiii!" 

She leapt forwards, sharp claws raking across Ralts's face. The psychic Pokèmon staggered a little, everyone knows that they're lacking in defense, before dropping to the ground. Cassie cheered, her first battle and she got a one hit KO! Cool! 

    The old woman sniffed her disdain, "It's not over yet." She warned, withdrawing her fainted Ralts. "Let's see you beat this... Go! DUSKULL!!" 

"Huh, Duskull... Oh yeah! Ghost type. Okay," Cassie thought for a second, "Flame, (Flame chirped) use your ember attack!" [yes, I KNOW it wouldn't be able to use that move until lv. 10, but this battle would be impossible without it] 

A demonic glow started to eminate from Torchic's eyes and if it were human it probably would've smirked. "Chick! torchichikcha!!" (Hahaha! Feel my wrath!) She yelled and fired her ember attack at the now sweatdropping Duskull. 

    Caught off guard the ghost Pokèmon got hit right in the face by the fire attack, knocking it back a few steps. Tammy clenched her fists in frustration and her face took on a purplish tinge.She was just about to give an other order to her Duskull when the familiar scent of burning filled the air. She looked down. 

"I'm buuuuuuuuuuuuurning!" She screamed, upon seeing the licking red flames that were slowly making their way up her leg. 

Torchic giggled as the lady ran off, leaping over the fence in one bound, and ran down to the harbour to land in the water in a splash. 

"Tooortorchichick." (you've got one weird trainer) She commented to Duskull. 

"Skooolll..." It replied, shaking its skull-shaped head, "Skooskull." With that it turned and followed Tammy, floating through the fence rather than over it. 

    Cassie laughed, "Well, I guess that's one way to have your first battle!" She said. 

"Torchichiktor chitorchikka." (if you don't want any money...) Flame grumbled. 

Her trainer smiled, "We've got plenty of battles to win yet, I wouldn't worry if I were you." 

Flame cheeped her approval and they continued on through the tall grass, KOing an offending Oddish as they moved along. By the time the sun was low in the sky, its last golden rays peeping over the horizon, they had settled down under an old pine tree to shelter from the light rain that showered over everything and Cassie was unrolling her sleeping bag. Flame had a dazed look in her eyes, her head drooping sleepily as she tried to stay awake. 

    "Hey, Flame. Cummon, let's get some rest." Cassie suggested, lifting her tired Pokèmon from the ground and sitting her beside her in the sleeping bag. 

"Tor... chicchic tor...." (tired... I'm so tired) The little flame Pokèmon managed to mumble. She was out in seconds. 

    Cassie stayed up a little longer, propped up on her elbows as she watched a flock of Tailow and Swellow fly past overhead. The sky was getting darker by the second, gray clouds seeming to fade to almost black through the drizzle. She sighed and settled down, tomorrow would be a long, wet and cranky day, she was sure of it. 

* * *

So, that would be chapter two. And I got three reveiws! But I can only see one of them when I try to tread them... ff.net's acting up again. And sometimes the counter says three, sometimes two and sometimes one... I'm getting a little confused here, but at least I can read one of them consistantly! 

The Pokèmon Breeder: Thanks for the reveiw! I'm glad you like it, this fic is a little experimental on my part but I'm enjoying doing it! I'll try to update faster than this in future, but that's just me. I'm slow sometimes... 

To other people who reveiwed but I can't read it: Thanks anyway [^_^'] I just wish ff.net would let me see stuff... Grrrrr... 

Well, hope the new chapter's good and you peeps enjoy it. Syonara!   
^_~* Obsidian Blade 


	3. Fortree trouble

**Lilycove Girl**

CHAPTER THREE: Fortree Trouble 

By **O**bsidian **B**lade 

______________________________________   
| SKITTYno. 61   
| type: Normal   
| HT: 2' 0''   
| WT: 24   
| Evolution: SKITTY --> DELCATTY   
|______________________________________ 

    Cassie walked into Fortree in the early morning. She'd been woken by something earlier and just couldn't get back to sleep. After a while of trying she surrendered and packed up, returning the sleeping Flame to her Pokèball so she could continue to rest.   
    The town was awake already, people climbing up and down rope ladders to get in and out of houses and shops. She had heard that everything but the Mart, Pokèmon Center and the gym were up in trees and, from what she could see, Fortree stayed true to form. The houses were quite small and brown, with leaves and branches as rooves. Long wood-and-rope walkways extended from house platform to house platform, swaying and creaking noisily as people walked across them and the light wind shifted the planks slightly. Cassie couldn't help but notice the way people seemed to hurry across the walkways; they couldn't posibly be afraid, could they? The majority of these people had lived here all their lives, shouldn't they be used to it by now? 

    Shaking it off she started walking again and moved further into the town. Yeah, it called itself a city, but Fortree was tiny in comparision with Lilycove. In fact, it looked like the only way to get all the way around was to cross the freaky walkways. A big city would be much better equipped for people, but Cassie didn't mind. She was actually looking for an excuse to get up there; walking along the planks looked sort of fun... 

"Torchiiiiiiiiii!!" A muffled voice suddenly exclaimed. 

"Okay, okay, out you come Flame." Cassie sighed, a hint of humor in her voice as she released Torchic from her Pokèball. 

    "Chikachi." (about time) The little bird sniffed, fluffing her feathers and smiling with her eyes [a/n: how else would a bird smile??]. 

Cassie grinned and offered her partner an arm, which Flame gladly accepted, hopping up the arm onto her trainer's shoulder. Once the Torchic was comfortably settled Cassie walked over to one of the ladders and grabbed two rungs that were just within her reach. 

"Hold on," She advised Flame, "It might be a bit windy up there." 

    With a cheep from her Pokèmon the blonde girl climbed up the ladder and hopped up onto the wooden platform supporting one of the houses. She turned and looked out over the empty walkway, the grin plastered on her face seemingly unchangeable. 

_'A good thing I'm not afraid of heights.'_ She mused, stepping out onto the first plank. 

It creaked alarmingly under her weight but Cassie didn't falter. She'd seen other people walk across this walkway just five minutes ago, there was no reason for it to fall now. With a confidence unexpected by the few people watching her, Cassie walked out to the middle of the wooden walk and turned to look down at the gym. She had just seen the roof over the tops of the trees from the ground but now the gleaming structure was perfectly visable. The girl staring at it felt her heart leap inside her chest. She wouldn't be fighting here yet, too weak, but just seeing a gym for the first time in her life reminded her of the excitement the future held for her. 

    "Totorchito?" (what's that?) Flame suddenly cheeped, her orange head at an angle. 

The walkway was shaking more than the wind could make it, chuddering back and forth and back and forth... 

"Skihipskit!" A little voice giggled from under the planks as the walkways movements got all the more violent. 

"Torchiii!" Flame squealed as Cassie started to lose her balance. 

    The little Torchic grabbed her trainer's backpack in her claws, flapping her wings in a frantic attempt to stop her trainer falling. 

"W-what's going on?" Cassie wanted to know, trying to lean backwards away from the edge. 

Just then the walkway jumped forwards, throwing the trainer off and down towards the trees below. 

"Skarmory! Go!!" A voice ordered from the sidelines. 

    "Skareeee!" The large bird's voice called and a silver bolt fell from the sky at high speeds. 

"AHHHH-oof!" Cassie yelped as she slammed into a metal back. 

"Skarmora mory!" (got you!) The 5' 7'' bird boasted, soaring high before dipping low to land beside his trainer and let Cassie slide from his back. 

"Torchika!" (thanx! ^_^) Flame cheeped and the Skarmory winked in reply. 

    "Woah, that was close." Cassie gasped. 

"Hmm," The other trainer agreed with a nod, "You shouldn't have gone out without someone else with you." 

She looked up at the other girl who stood with a confident look on her face. "What just happened out there? And what's your name?" 

The girl smiled, "I'm Winona, the gym leader around here. That," She pointed to the walkway, "Is what we call the 'Walkway of doom' around here. For some reason it bucks people off when they go on it one at a time. So everyone has to go in twos." 

    Cassie held out a hand, "I'm Cassie, nice to meet you." 

Winona took her hand and shook it, "I guess you're a Pokèmon trainer." She observed, glancing at Flame, who was having a long and complicated sounding talk with Skarmory. "Why don't you come to the gym? I'll fight you." 

Cassie shook her head, "Sorry, but this is only my second day as a trainer. You'd wipe the floor with me an' Flame." 

The leader rolled her eyes, "Well, at least one of the newbies knows that." They set out across the walkway, safe now that they were in a two, "You're from Lilycove, right?" Cassie nodded, "Well, two boys came through here recently and tried to beat me and the junior trainers in my gym. Needless to say they didn't do too well!" 

    The blonde trainer laughed, "Wouldn't I have liked to see that! Tom and Lewis needed a good slap back into reality, guess you gave it to them!" 

"Sure did!" Winona snickered. 

    Meanwhile Flame hovered in the air, watching the planks of the boardwalk suspitiously. Skarmory watched her for a second before shrugging his metalic wings and flying over to the platform the two girls were headed to, waiting for them to join him. 

"Chi-ka chi-kuu..." (I know you're there...) She growled in her best 'I'm a big nasty bird' voice. 

"Skitskuhap!" 

    A little large-eared cat-like face popped up from under one of the wider planks. It was a pinky-tan colour with a moon-shaped patch of pale yellow fur covering its face. With another 'Skitu!' it hopped up onto the plank and looked up at Flame. Its body was the same colour as the head, with the pale yellow covering the underbelly. Its tail was skinny and pink, with a larger pink oval shaped blob on the end, three yellow balls on tiny sticks standing on the end of that. 

"Skitt skarpuit!" The Skitty giggled mischeivously. 

    "Chikchikaa!" (looook!) Flame squealed to Cassie. 

"What, Flame?" She inquired, turning around to see her Torchic and an empty plank. She raised an eyebrow, "Well?" 

"Chi... Chikku co hattu! Torchikchik!" (look... hey, it's gone! It was there, I swear!) Flame peeped, frantically looking around for the Skitty. 

The tiniest fluff of hair was visible through a gap in the planks, but it was quickly hidden with a little giggle. 

    "To... torchitorchickachikchik." (but... stupid Skitty's hiding now) 

"Yeah, whatever." Cassie was now on the ground after climbing down the ladder and gestured to Torchic. "Let's go Flame, we've got a long way to go yet." She turned to Winona, "Thanks for saving me, I'll see you again when I get the other badges!" 

"Cassie, wait." Winona pointed to route 119, the way forward. "You might want to wait until tomorrow. It rains every day but Wednesdays down there, so you could make a pretty dry journey tomorrow. It would be good for Torchic too," She added, "Fire attacks are weakened in the rain. You can stay in my grandmother's house, she has a spare room now that my mother moved out to live with my father." 

Cassie blinked at the sudden suggestion, but Winona was right. Her sleeping bag would be _soaked _after a good walk through the rain and that was the last thing she wanted. 

    "Okay then, that alright, Torchic?" 

"Chikaku." (as if you care) 

"I'll take that as a yes. I'm sure you don't want to get wet." Back to Winona, "Thanks again." 

Winona shrugged, "It's nothing." 

* * *

    Cassie lay sprawled out on the small bed Winona's grandmother had lent her, Flame curled up nearby. The trainer murmured and tossed a little bit, having a dream about falling from the walkway and having Flame evolve into a huge Combusken [Combuskens are only 2' 11'', BTW] and save her and fly off and beat the elite four and become the League champion and beat the trainers May, Silver and Red...   
    A small wet something was suddenly shoved in the sleeping trainer's face. 

"Yahhh!" She screamed, waking up and flinging whatever it was away from her. 

"Skitupha!" The mischeivous Skitty exclaimed, landing on its feet. 

"Why you... You.... You Skitty you!" She hissed, trying not to add to the ruckus she had already made. 

    Flame opened an eye sleepily, then saw the Skitty! 

"Torchikuuuuuuu-uk!" (I see yu-uf) She squeaked when Cassie clamped a hand over her beak. 

"Okay Flame, let's have a _quiet_ battle, okay?" Flame gave her a look, "And yes, you _were_ right back on the walkway! I appologise! Now fight!" 

"Torchiku." (gotcha) She replied with a nod. 

    "Okay, scratch attack!" She whispered. 

"Chika!" (hi-ya!) Flame squeaked, leaping forward and raking Skitty with her claws. 

"Skitta!" The Skitty complained, sitting down and rubbing its poor face, "Skittu!" 

It leapt at Torchic and tackled it hard. Flame wavered a little, a tiny moan escaping her throat. 

"It's okay Flame! Hang in there and use your peck attack!" Cassie urged quietly. 

    Torchic hurled herself at the Skitty, bonking it hard with her beak and slamming Skitty into the ground. It was more of a tackle than a peck, but Cassie hardly cared. Reaching down she pulled a Pokèball from her bag and threw it at Skitty. The Pokèmon looked up just in time to see the ball flying towards it and give a frightened 'Skitty?' before it was sucked inside. The ball rocked back and forth madly before there was a 'clink!' and it lay still. 

    "Yeah! We caught Skitty!" Cassie whispered to Flame, who just shook her head. She didn't like that little cat... 

"Skitta!" A tiny voice wailed from inside the Pokèball. 

"Are you going to be good?" Cassie asked the Skitty inside. 

"Skitskit." (uh-huh uh-huh) She promised. 

    "Okay then, Skitty, GO!" 

With a flash of red light the little cat appeared on the bed, yawning a little and looking up at her new mistress. 

"Torchichictora!" (she made you fall!) Flame complained. 

"Did you?" Cassie asked her new Pokèmon sternly. 

"Skituto..." (weelll....) Skitty said guiltily. 

    "As long as you don't do it again and don't try to run away I forgive you." Cassie decided, "Oh, and wear this so if you try to run people will know that you belong to someone." She ordered, taking her light blue bandana from its wrapped up state around her wrist and tying it carefully around Skitty's neck. 

Skitty watched her do this, her eyes shimmering with gratitude. No-one had ever been kind to her before... She looked up at her new trainer, a look of love and hope in her eyes. 

"Skit... skitow..." (th-thank you...) Skitty murmured, "Skittskotsken." (I'll be happy to be your partner) 

* * *

    How was that for a chapter? I'm going to try to update every day from now on (don't ask, inspiration came from someone else's fic) but I might not manage it once or twice. After all, I have many other fics to tends to! I probably already said that already but anyway! 

To all my reveiwers:   
Sorry, but I STILL can't veiw my reveiws!! Grr... stupid failing server or whatever this is. It's driving me nuts! Gahh! No worries to all those faithfull enough to reveiw, you will get credit when ff.net finaly co-operates. Until then [shrugs] I'll just update. 


	4. Taylor bugs us all

**Lilycove Girl**

CHAPTER FOUR: Taylor bugs us all 

By **O**bsidian **B**lade 

___________________________________   
| CASCOONno. 17   
| type: Bug   
| HT: 2' 4''   
| WT: 25   
| Evolution: WURMPLE --> CASCOON --> DUSTOX   
|___________________________________ 

    Cassie and her Pokèmon had left Fortree early, after thanking the old lady that had put them up for the night profusely and telling Winona about Skitty and the walkway. Now they were heading down the squelchy and mucky path of route 119. Flame rode on her trainer's shoulder to stay out of the mud while Skitty hopped from rock to rock, very careful not to get mud on her bandana. She didn't notice the looks Flame was shooting her, looks of jealousy and dislike.   
    Flame just didn't understand. This Skitty had nearly killed her trainer and yet Cassie had forgiven her like it was nothing! Was she that eager to get a replacement for her starter Pokèmon, Torchic? Was she, Flame, destined to be a first Pokèmon that is kept around until the trainer has enough Pokèmon to manage without her? She even gave Skitty a bandana... Flame didn't have anything but a nickname... She looked away from her trainer's face, eyes beginning to water, but Cassie noticed anyway. She signaled Skitty to stop and lifted her Pokèmon from shoulder to hand. 

    "Hey, Flame, are you alright?" She asked the fire bird. 

"Torchi-[hiccup]-cohichick-[hiccup]-chika!" (why would you care, you've got Skitty now) Flame replied sadly. 

Cassie smiled at her when she finally realised what was going on. "Now why would I stop liking you because I caught another Pokèmon, hmm? Lot's of trainers have more than one Pokèmon, the majority of us do. You really don't have to worry." 

"Torchichick torhen?" (how come I don't get a bananana?) 

    Her trainer laughed, "It's a bandana, silly. And I gave it to Skitty because I wanted to make friends with her, okay? I gave you a Pokèblock, remember? You said it tasted good..." 

Flame sniffed and wiped the last of her tears from her eyes, "Chiktorchi." (I'm okay now) She assured her trainer, "Torchikchikkachiku torchik chi chik!" (let's go, me an' Skitty've got other Pokèmon to beat!) 

"Skit skita!" (yeah, let's hit the road!) Skitty added, hopping up and down on her rock. 

"Yeah, well I would, but the mud's in the way!" Cassie joked, continuing the tedious walk and wincing at her squelching steps. "I can see this as taking a loooong time," She glanced at Skitty, "But I'm glad I'm not on Sarah's boat." 

    They kept going through the mud for some time, the human squelching through mud and long grass that grabbed and itched at her skin while her Pokèmon sat on either shoulder. She hadn't seen any trainers what-so-ever since they entered route 119, but she sure wouldn't want to be training around here if she could help it. Finaly she reached a rocky stretch, followed by a bridge stretching over the largest waterfall she had ever seen [bear with my ppl, Lilycove doesn't have any waterfalls]. The only mud on either was a thin flim from the rain washing the dirt around and that off people's shoes.   
    Now that she was out of the long grass Cassie could finaly see her legs, but now wished she couldn't. The mud was all the way up past her knees, splattering even further to dirty the bottom of her shirt and jumper too. 

"Yuck." She moaned, "We have to get to a city soon or else I'll die of dirt!" 

Skitty giggled and Flame hopped up and down laughingly as their trainer scowled and picked her way across the bridge. The other side was another stretch of rocky surface, a relief to Cassie and her clothing. And still there were no trainers to be seen.   
    They pressed on, Skitty leaping down and going from rock to rock again after complaining that her legs ached. They passed a small house without a second look in its direction; Cassie was beginning to worry that they'd get rained on soon if they didn't hurry up and get out of this area. 

"Aww darn." She complained, seeing even more long grass they had to go through. 

With a sigh she entered it, only to find that the prickly foliage reached up to her chin! 

    "Now this is nasty." She muttered, doing her best to keep grass from her eyes while walking in a straight line. 

"What? The grass?" A voice enquired. 

"Huh? Who was that?" Cassie wanted to know, looking around for the speaker. 

"It was me." A young man replied, apparently standing up as his head rose from the grass. 

    He was considerably taller than she, with greasy black hair that hung lifelessly to his shoulders. On his lumpy nose he wore huge, thick-lensed nerdy glasses and what Cassie could see of him was unhealthily skinny. 

"They call me Taylor the bug maniac." He told her, "And you are?" 

"Cassie." She replied, "Cassie the Pokèmon trainer." 

    He blinked and seemed to see Skitty and Flame for the first time. 

"A trainer? Did you see any others on the way down here?" He inquired, a strange look settling in. 

"Well, no, I didn't. Do you know where they went?" 

He grinned, "I scared them away, just like I'm going to do to you!" 

    A boney but strong hand grabbed her arm and pulled Cassie out into an open area in the grass. The ground was swampy and the air stank, but it was better than neck-high grass. Taylor pulled a Pokèball from somewhere in the white short sleeved shirt he wore, dropping a bug catching net to the ground he pulled out another. 

"This isn't a normal battle." He told her, "Be prepared to fight with two Pokèmon at once, relying on their teamwork to win!" 

"Huh, okay. You gals can do it, right?" 

Skitty and Flame nodded, leaping from her shoulders to the ground. The bug maniac threw two Pokèballs, and out popped a Wurmple and a Cascoon! 

    Cassie frowned, all Cascoon could do was use harden so she should focus on Wurmple first to KO the offense. 

"Wurmple, POISON STING ATTACK!" Taylor ordered [a/n: it does learn that move, right? I don't know, didn't bother to catch one -_-']. 

"Skitty, Flame! Get out of the way of its poison sting and tackle and peck it from either side!" 

"Skitskit!" (o' course) 

"Torchi!" (we're on it!) 

    The two Pokèmon dodged to opposite sides, disappearing into the taller than tall grass. Wurmple looked from side to side in confusion, wondering where its two opponents had gone. Behind it, Cascoon hardened. Suddenly there was a rustle in the grass on one side, then the other. Wurmple tried to look both ways at once (with little effect, might I add) just as Flame and Skitty exploded from their cover and slammed it from both sides. Wurmple gave a little noise that sounded like a baloon going down, and collapsed to the ground. Behind them, Cascoon hardened. 

    "Aw, shucks." Taylor returned Wurmple, "But I still have THE ALMIGHTY DUSTOX!!!!" 

Skitty and Flame sweatdropped. Behind them, Cascoon hardened. With a flash of light (and another hardening noise) the moth like bug Pokèmon sprang from its ultra ball and hovered daintily above the ground. 

"Flame, ember that thing before it hardens again! It's getting on my nerves! Skitty, tackle Dustox for me." Cassie ordered her Pokèmon. 

Skitty slammed herself into Dustox, sending it crashing out of the sky and down in front of Cascoon, who hardened behind it. Unfortunately for Dustox Flame fired her ember just then, catching it hard in the chest and KOing it in one hit. Behind it, Cascoon hardened. 

    Cassie twitched, mumbling something about 'stupid Cascoons' and 'hardening' she turned to Flame and Skitty, "Just deal with that thing." 

They nodded and cheeped before turning around to face Cascoon. 

"Torchichiktor!" (Take this, fool!) Flame chirped, causing her teammate to sweatdrop and miss her turn. 

Flame did another of her tackling pecks, slamming head-first into Cascoon's side which was, by this point, rock solid. She took three steps forward, three steps back and collapsed into a stunned heap on the ground. Cassie blinked, A CASCOON DID THAT???? NOOOOOOOO! [a/n: excuse my insanity... ^_^] Holding up Torchic's Pokèball she returned it and turned to Skitty. 

    "Okay, be carefull Skitty. Watch out for its hard shell!" 

Skitty mewed and turned back to Cascoon. She had a plan of her own... Leaping up into the air she grabbed the tall grass. It was long but thick, somehow supporting her weight with relative ease. Glancing over her shoulder Skitty looked at Cascoon and smiled sweetly before leaping from the grass and tackling... The ground? A huge dent appeared in the soft mud in front of Cascoon and Skitty pulled back to watch her plan take effect. Before her, Cascoon hardened...   
    With the added weight of its hard skin Cascoon began to slip forwards down Skitty's dent in the ground. What did it do in retaliation? Well... um.... it hardened... Got heavier... and started to disappear into the thick mud. Cassie watched in disbeleif as the bug Pokèmon went frantic trying to harden and save itself. Everything it did just made it sink deeper and deeper and deeper into the soft ground. Finally it just fainted from exaustion, leaving its trainer Taylor to stare stupidly. 

"I-I lost?" said the bug maniac faintly, "Even after scaring all those trainers away with my nerdiness and time-consuming battles....?" He returned the mud covered Cascoon and handed Cassie half of all his money, "I think I need a new strategy." He murmured, walking off into the grass. 

    "Skitty! You did it!" exclaimed Cassie, lifting her Pokèmon from the ground and giving her a pat. 

"Skitskitskitta tee!" (and I didn't get the bandana dirty!) Skitty responded, taking her place on the trainer's left shoulder. 

Her trainer laughed, then remembered her Torchic. 

"We've got to get Flame to a Pokèmon center NOW!" She exclaimed, breaking into a run with Skitty held in her arms. 

"Skittu skit skat!" (Wow, we're going faster than a Linoone!) Skitty realised, her large ears blowing against her trainer's shoulder. 

    Cassie wasn't listening. She shoved her way through the grass and burst out into the open, running full tilt toward Mauville city. She was so close... But there was one obstacle she hadn't thought of : the water. 

* * *

Yay! I can see some more of my reveiws! Happy me! Unfortunately, not all, but anyway! And I finaly realised why I can't... The site's being upgraded... AGAIN. 

To my reveiwers: 

BrEeZy WiNd: U know if you say really too much your teeth fall out? I think someone said that... [thinks] I dunno, maybe it was Hikaru or Karina... Okay, okay, I think it was probably the little demon that lives in my head and likes sausages.   
A-N-Y-W-A-Y-Z.   
Hey, I have this feeling you like it. Hmm, I wonder where I got that idea from? AND I hear that you reviewed my bro's fic too. No prob to me, not gonna set my Kyogre and Saiyan gang on you or anything! And I am updating soon! Like ToMoRrOw!   
**Flare:** ....   
**Torchic:** .... Ignore her, she's a little... weird. 

Kamaitachi: Thanx! 

DaysGoByAndStillIThinkOfYou: Ja! Glad you like it! Torchic is soooo kewl, but I think Blaziken is better. lol. (why else would my yahoo ID be blazikengal72???) And here is the update! Another one will be around... tomorrow! 

BTW: I _think_ Wurmple evolves into Cascoon if it's male, but I dunno. Or does it have something to do with night/day? Or mayhaps it just doesn't evolve into Cascoon at all??? Heck, I dunno. 


	5. Vaporeon and the River

**Lilycove Girl**

CHAPTER FIVE: Vaporeon and the river 

by Obsidian Blade 

A/N: Because Eevee doesn't exist in S/R I'm going to use G/S/C data, just so ya know. ^_^ 

__________________________________________   
| EEVEEno. 133   
| type: Normal   
| HT: 1' 00''   
| WT: 14   
| Evolution:   
|--> UMBREON   
|--> JOLTEON   
| EEVEE --> FLAREON   
|--> VAPOREON   
|--> ESPEON   
|__________________________________________ 

    Cassie slid to a stop, unable to beleive her eyes. Before her lay a stretch of water, the golden sunlight shimmering on its surface as the liquid lapped lazily at the shore. It wasn't too far to get to the other side, in fact she could even see one of the small houses that sat at the edge of Mauvile city, but that didn't help. She couldn't swim that far, of that the young trainer was sure. But she had too! Flame needed to get to a Pokèmon centre soon!   
    Seeing the panic in her trainer's eyes Skitty patted her on the back with her tail. 

"Skittskitt skitap!" (don't worry, we'll find a way across!) She assured her. 

"I hope so..." Responded Cassie nervously, shifting her starter Pokèmon's Pokèball from hand to hand nervously. 

She went down to the water's edge, peering out over it in search of a way across. But her search was in vain. The only way was to swim, apart from a chain of smaller rocks extending quite far out. Unfortunately, these were far too small for her to use them and the chain only extended halfway.   
    Cassie felt her stomach sink inside of her. She couldn't do this. There was no way to go on, no way to get all the way back in time. This couldn't be happening. All of her dreams, dreams that had seemed so close these last three days, were swirling rapidly away from her, falling out of reach. 

"Skittuuuu! Skiten haru!" (No! This can't happen!) Skitty cried, her dark eyes pooling with tears. 

    With the silence and solumn action of a Kangaskan leaving her young, Cassie pocketed Flame's Pokèball. But she hadn't given up yet, not for a long shot. She began to walk down the beach, mud-coated trainers leaving dark prints in the sand with every step as she moved on, scanning the surface of the water and the land nearby. She searched for an hour before crying out in frustration and rage and sitting down hard on a fallen tree trunk. Skitty sat before her, watching her distressed trainer quietly.   
    Suddenly her large ears twitched to the right and Skitty turned her whole head in that direction. 

"Sk...skitty?" She murmured, padding away from Cassie and pushing through a patch of thick brush, "Skittu...." (wow...) She gasped in amazement. 

In front of the little cat Pokèmon roared a waterfall, the water around it awash with thick white foam and a rainbow leaping across its width. It was the most beautifull thing Skitty had ever seen... 

    "Poreee!" A voice cried, barely distinguishable above the roaring water. 

"Skittuta?" (huh?) Skitty wondered. 

"Vaporeeooonnnn!" It yelled again and a blue head bobbed above the waves again before getting sucked back down. 

"SKITTY!" (HEY!) She squealed and ran back to Cassie. 

    "Skitskuhapskippa!" (there's a Pokèmon in the water and I think she's drowning!) Exclaimed Skitty. 

Cassie frowned, it wasn't a way to get across, but she couldn't just do nothing... 

"Okay, where?" 

    Skitty led her trainer to the waterfall, looking back over her shoulder every now and again to make sure the girl was still following. She was. When they got there the kitten Pokèmon searched the foamy waves for the other's head. The creature was no where to be seen. 

"Skitten?" (Pokèmon?) She called. 

"Va... Poreee...." It panted as it managed to surface again. 

"SKITTYA!" (THERE!) Skitty cried. 

    "I see it." Replied her trainer, going as close to the edge she could, "And it doesn't look too good." She smiled at Skitty, "Hey, watch these." 

She pulled off her shoes and shrugged off jacket and bag. Pulling Flame's Pokèball from her pocket the trainer set it carefully in the middle and nodded to Skitty before wading out as far as she could. The water was up to waist height, but Cassie's clothes were so muddy it hardly mattered. What did matter was the current. Very, VERY strong. It had to be the waterfall. 

"Poreeon!" 

    The trapped Pokèmon's head escaped the water again, just in front of the blonde trainer out to save it. It was a Vaporeon, the water evolution of Eevee. Cassie frowned, Vaporeon were excelent swimmers; what was wrong with this one? Perhaps it was stuck? Taking a deep breath she plunged her head under the water to take a look. Her eyes, used to goggles and the occasional splash of sea water rather then that of a river, stung but she blinked the pain away, focusing on the task at hand before she got swept away by the current.   
    Her guess had been right. Vaporeon's long and flippered tail was wedged painfully under some rocks and every frenzied tug did nothing to help. Cassie pulled her head out again and took a couple more steps forward, warey of the dangers in rapid flowing water like this. Taking another breath she plunged again, this time kneeling down and gripping the rocks with her toes for balance. With grim determination she pulled at the rocks, but they held fast. Gritting her teeth and bracing herself the new trainer pulled as hard as she could on the stones, pulling them away to reveal a badly crushed and bloodied Vaporeon tail. She pulled the Pokèmon into her arms before it could be dragged away by the river without its tail to guide it. Unfortunately, she lost her balance right then and both girl and Pokèmon crashed into the surf and were swept away. 

    Cassie tried to brace herself for a beating by water against rock, but didn't seem to be getting anywhere. Looking up she saw that she was hooked on a heavy looking log, a triumphant Skitty visable yet blurred through the water. She sighed, letting out a trail of bubbles, and stood up in the shallows. Skitty mewed plaintitively as her sodden trainer slopped over to her belongings and wrapped up the Vaporeon in her sweater. 

"You all right, Vaporeo-" 

    She stopped blank in her sentance; this wasn't just any Vaporeon. Its stomach was rounded and swollen as obvious proof of its pregnancy. 

"Woah." Was all Cassie could say. 

The sound of crunching feet in the sand was all that alerted her to the arrival of another human. 

"V-Vaporeon?" A man's voice stuttered, "Are you alright my baby?!" 

    He pushed past the blonde trainer and knelt beside his water Pokèmon, taking her in his arms. He was quite a fat man, with a box full of something writhing strapped around his waist and a fishing pole in one hand. He was wearing a plaid shirt that buttoned up the front and brown cords that tucked into his thigh-heigh wellington boots. He had to be a fisherman. 

"Um, excuse me, sir..." Cassie spoke, "Is that your Pokèmon?" 

The fisherman looked hurt, "Of course! This is Bubbles, my Vaporeon! And she's going to be a mummy soon!" He patted the Vaporeon's head and it crooned quietly, "Who are you?" He looked her sopping form up and down, "You've been swimming in your clothes?" 

    She sighed, "I'm Cassie, a Pokèmon trainer. There isn't a Pokèmon center on this side of the river, is there? Only my Torchic's fainted." 

"Vapa vapor." Said Bubbles to her trainer. 

"What? Really?" 

The blue creature nodded. Now the fisherman looked embaressed. 

    "I'm sorry, I didn't know." He stood up, Vaporeon in arm, and held out a pudgy hand to Cassie. "I'm Johnathon, the best fisherman in these parts. Bubbles here told me that you saved her from drowning when she got stuck under some rocks." He smiled, "Thank you for that, if there's anything I can do in return I'd be happy to do so." 

Cassie felt her grin spread from ear to ear. There _was _a way across! A fisherman would obviously have water Pokèmon that could assist her. 

"If you could take me over to Mauville city..." She began, "My Torchic, Flame, is knocked out and I need to get her to a Pokèmon center." 

    Johnathon seemed to think about this for a second. 

"Yes, I'll do that. But I'll do it tomorrow. You can stay in my cabin a short way west with my wife and I. She's very good at healing Pokèmon so your Torchic would benefit from being healed by her. And I'd like you to take a Pokèmon in return for saving Bubbles, take a look when we get there!" 

"Wow, thanks!" Said Cassie, hardly able to believe her luck. 

    He led her back a short way to a small house backed onto the rocky area. It was almost completely hiden by trees, so Cassie and Skitty could see how they missed it before [a/n: this house wasn't there in R/S so it's not the one with all the berries out back or the one through the tall grass] Inside it didn't look any larger than it did outside, with a low ceiling and rooms furnished with the bare minimum to stop them from seeming cramped.   
    John stopped at the bottom of a flight of stairs. 

"There's a spare room up there, on the left. You can stay the night in there if you can ignore the fact that it's a bit of a store room." 

"I'm sure it'll be fine." Cassie assured him, already climbing the tiny stairs. 

"And there's a shower room straight ahead, if you want to get all that mud off." 

    She decided to do that first, not wanting to tread any more mud than she already had around the porky fisherman's home. As the hot water slid down her body, getting rid of the mud and grime that had built up over the course of the day she tried to figure out how far she had left to go and how far Sarah had probably reached by now. She reckoned that her best friend was probably be around Pacifidlog, staying the night while the ship stocked up on provisions. As for her, she just had to get through Mauville to Verdanturf town and then follow the newly finished Rusturf Tunnel and she was as good as there.   
    Cassie got out of the shower and dried herself off, pulling on her clean set of clothes and putting her hair in a ponytail so that two curling tresses escaped, framing her face. She was now wearing flared blue jeans and a little black t-shirt with a stylized image of a Houndoom using flamethrower done all in metalic red on the front. Pleased that she looked okay the blonde trainer pulled her newly cleaned bag onto her back and lifted her dirty clothes from the ground between her finger and thumb. 

    "Here, I'll take those." A brown haired woman wearing the green garb of a Pokèmon ranger told her as Cassie stepped out of the shower room. 

"Um, okay." She handed over the mud encrusted clothes and followed the woman downstairs. 

"I'm Catherine," She told the younger trainer, "The wife of Johnathon and the stronger of the two rangers around here. My husband said your Torchic needed healing...?" 

"Yeah, she does." She handed over Flame's Pokèball after Catherine had shoved the dirty clothes into a washing machine. 

    "Alright then. I'll heal up your Torchic while you go and chose the Pokèmon John wants you to have." 

"Okay, thanks!" 

She left Catherine to work on Flame and went outside to find Johnathon sitting in a Pokèmon pen attached to the side of the building. He had Bubbles and an egg in his lap and behind him there were lots of different Pokèmon. Just in one glance Cassie could see Feebas, Gyarados, Corsola, Eevee, Pidgey, Swellow and Ninjask lying, playing or sitting around. Her own Skitty was in the pen too, playing with one of the Eevees. 

    "Well, take your pick." Johnathon invited, "I would give you Bubbles' egg, but I want it for myself, sorry." 

Cassie didn't care. She got whichever Pokèmon she wanted! A voice in the back of her head was ordering her to get a rare Pokèmon that she'd be unlikely to get later, but she had already decided that it would be whichever Pokèmon she liked the personality of. 

"Skittapo!" (Hiya!) The familiar voice of her own Pokèmon squeaked from nearby. 

Cassie looked down to see the little cat sat beside an Eevee with strange colour patterns. The tone of brown and tan on front and back were swapped, giving the Pokèmon a light body and dark markings. It looked up at her and flicked its tail from side to side. 

    "What's this Eevee like?" Cassie asked the fisherman behind her. 

Johnathon came over to have a better look. 

"Ahh, that one. He's one of Bubble's offspring from four months ago. He's got high attack power but he's so boisterous I can hardly put it to good use." John looked over at Cassie, "I think you might be able to though, young one. Your Skitty seems well trained enough." 

    But Cassie didn't need to hear more. By saying that this Eevee was too high spirited to be used in battle John had as good as challenged her to train it. She couldn't decline a challenge. 

"I'll take him." She said, taking a Pokèball from her pocket. 

"I thought so." Responded John. 

The blonde trainer held out the Pokèball to the Eevee and returned it in a flash of red light. The ball didn't even rock as this was as good as a Pokèmon trade so it couldn't escape anyway. 

    "Skit! Skitskitap!!" (yay! You chose the best one!) Skitty cried, hopping up and down excitedly. 

Cassie smiled and released the Eevee from his Pokèball. 

"Eev eeva?" (do I get to go somewhere now?) Eevee wanted to know. 

"Skittuskityskittt!" (we go around the world battling with our trainer!) Replied the kitten. 

"Eevee." (Sounds good) He said with a nod. 

    "Your Torchic's healed." A musical voice announced from behind them. 

"Great! Thanks a ton!" Exclaimed Cassie, taking the ball from Catherine and sending out Flame. 

"Torchiii!" (freedom!) She cried, hopping up and down with Skitty. "Tochichicha!" (I'm so happy!) 

"Good to hear." Cassie laughed, looking at her growing team of creatures. 

Dreams were in arm's length again. 

* * *

Yes! I know! I didn't update when I said I would! I shoulda knocked on wood when I said I'd update the next day, 'cause we went out shopping for a new comp a short while after! So, on Friday the 7th, I'll have a cool new comp that doesn't break down all the time and I WILL be able to update when I say I will. Oh, and there's another bonus that comes with this: A spell checker! So, I'm happy. But I'm not going to say I'll update tomorrow, 'cause that's just tempting fate. Now, to my reviewers: 

The Pokemon Breeder: Sorry to hear that ff.net wouldn't let you read, it was acting up REALLY bad recently cause of the upgrades. One of my reviews got deleted on one of my other fics! WAHH! but anyway, thanks for reviewing when you could! Taylor reminds you of Snape??? I have to go re-read that chapter... 

BrEeZy WiNd: Mudkip's cute too! Just not as sweet as Torchic... And now I'm sorta wondering about Wurmple... Everyone's saying it evolves into both so I'm gonna find out why... Thanks for the review! 

ElementalZoidFighter: Armaldo's cool, so is Rayquaza. But I don't think you need to use them against a Cascoon... Seriously, hope I haven't given anyone permanent hatred of Cascoon! Thnaks for your review too, good luck on your Yu-Gi-Oh! fic! 

Torchic: Torchic rulez! Luv the pen name! Thanx 4 da review! 


	6. Mauville and Lewis

**

Lilycove Girl

**

CHAPTER SIX: Mauville and Lewis 

______________________________________   
| Chikoritano. 152   
| type: Grass   
| Evolution: CHIKORITA --> BAYLEAF --> MEGANIUM   
|______________________________________ 

    "Well, there you go. Mauville city." John announced as his Wailord nudged up against the far shore. 

"Thanks!" Cassie called to him as he and his Pokémon slid out of vision, "Tell Catherine thank you too!" 

There was no return call and the trainer shrugged and turned toward the city. Shapes loomed up through the earlier morning fog, trees and rocks and plants that suddenly seemed far more sinister due to the mist. 

    "I'll be glad when we get into Mauville." Cassie commented, rubbing her arms to ward of the bite of the early morning cold. 

"Torchi choo." (me too) Flame agreed, fluffing up her feathers to keep out the chill. 

Skitty and Eevee walked along beside them, talking to each other so fast that Cassie couldn't figure out a word they were saying. She could, however, be totally sure that they weren't complaining about the cold. 

    They reached the city after about three minutes brisk walking. The buildings towered through the mist like huge black goliaths, giving the place the look of a ghost town. But as Cassie got further into Mauville the mist started to clear and she could finally see properly. There were a few people moving about and lights shone in the windows indicating life. The trainer felt the nervous tension she didn't know was gathering in her leave at the presence of the normalities of the city. 

    She sighed, "Cummon guys, let's go see if anything's happening before we go off to route 117." 

The three Pokémon cheered their agreement and the small group entered the Pokémon centre to check the board for any reports of anything. Cassie swished her gaze over the multicoloured bulletins advertising custom made Pokéballs, special items at low prices and numerous Pokémon adoption agencies, seeing nothing that caught her eye. 

    "I guess the world is just as boring as rumoured." She mumbled, turning away to walk out of the centre. 

"Hey! Cassie!" A familiar voice called after her, stopping her from leaving. 

"Huh?" She turned, "Lewis?" 

"Yup." The slightly older Lilycove resident responded, "How's it going?" 

    He was taller than her, with a stockier frame and redish brown hair that glinted gold in the sunlight. He was wearing a pair of slightly bagging jeans and a navy blue t-shirt with the 'Ripcurl' symbol on the front. Around his neck he wore a grey metal chain with two fake metal ID plates hanging of it [a/n: I hope people know what I mean by that, you know those thing people where in the army?? Yeah, those. And this is what guys my age wear is England, dunno 'bout you Yanks]. A Chikorita sat on his shoulder, studying Flame with its violet eyes. 

    "Great! My team's doing really well." She looked around as they walked out of the Pokémon centre together, "Hey, where's Tom?" 

Lewis rolled his chocolate brown eyes, "He left me behind while I waited for Raazor here to be healed. Said something about not having time for weaklings." He blew a stray lock of red-ish brown hair out of his face and wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Raazor was in a real bad way after he got ambushed by a group of Spearow. He needed the treatment quick." 

    Cassie groaned, "Tom's such an idiot." She glanced at the Chikorita she guessed was Raazor, "He's okay now, right?" 

"Fighting shape." The boy replied, "Thinking of fighting… Wanna have a Pokémon battle?" 

"Anytime!" 

"Great!" 

    Cassie returned Eevee and Skitty to their Pokéballs and the two humans ran out of town to the grassy area that marked the beginning of route 117; fighting wasn't allowed in cities without reason. Unless it was a Gym Battle, of course. They stood with a distance between them, Flame and Raazor looking eager to start. 

    "Go get 'em Flame!" Cassie ordered her fire chic, letting the little bird leap from her shoulder. 

"Okay Swiss, let's do this!" Lewis shouted, holding up a Pokéball. 

Red light shot out of the ball and formed the shape of a little rat-like creature that stood tall on its tail. It bounced a bit and squeaked at Flame. 

    "A Sentret, huh?" Cassie murmured, "No prob! Flame, Ember attack now!" 

"Put out its fire with Surf, Swiss!" 

"WHAT?!" 

    Cassie looked on in horror as Sentret called up a huge wave behind it. Flame shot her Ember straight into the foam as it bore down on her, to no avail. 

"TORRRRCHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!" (AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!) She cried as she was swept backwards into her trainer. 

When the water had cleared Cassie found herself stuck up a tree, Flame knocked out in her lap. She picked a stick out of her hair and dropped down to the ground, returning her Pokémon to her Pokéball. 

    "Okay, how did it do that?" She demanded of Lewis, ready to send out Skitty. 

Lewis shrugged, "I traded my Rattata for her with some kid, turns out he'd found out she could learn Surf and Cut and Strength and all that. He traded her to his brother, who taught her Surf and traded her back. Pretty neat, hey?" 

She couldn't help herself, she nodded. "Yeah… Anyway, we've got a battle to finish!" 

"Yeah, and then a you to dry." He joked, returning Swiss and letting Raazor into the battle. 

    "Shut up." Cassie mumbled, wringing an unimaginable amount of water from her shirt and sending Skitty out onto the battlefield. 

The little kitten Pokémon leapt onto the battlefield and grinned at her opponent, bright eyes shining mischievously. 

"Raazor! RAZOR LEAF!" Lewis ordered, his Pokémon letting out a rain of sharp leaves at Skitty. 

    Skitty leapt swiftly to one side, the deadly green blurs shooting just centimetres past her left flank. 

"Skitat!" (Missed!) She cried. 

"Tackle attack!" Her trainer ordered. 

The command was carried out quickly and Skitty threw her body into Raazor. 

    "Chikaaaaa…" He moaned, but managed to keep his head. 

"Again!" 

"Skittu!" 

    The second attack sent Chikorita flying back into Lewis's arms. The boy patted his fainted Pokémon's head before returning him to his Pokéball. 

"Okay, one down on either side." He chewed his lip for a second, then took out Swiss's Pokéball again. 

"Oh great." Cass groaned, "Get ready to get wet, Skitty." She warned the kitten. 

"Ti. Tat?" (Ok… why?) 

    "SURF ATTACK!" 

"TIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!" (Yiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikes!) She yelped, leaping up to the very top of a tree to avoid the surf as her trainer was soaked through once again." 

Cassie spat out a mouthful of dirt, water and leaves. "Tackle that thing, Skitty!" 

"Skittow!" (ja!) She cried and hit the Sentret head on. 

    "Treeeeeeee…." It moaned, just managing to tackle Skitty back before hitting the ground with a thud. 

"Skiiiiittttttyyyyyy…." Skitty fell seconds later. 

"Huh. Guess it's one on one now." Lewis looked a lot more nervous than he sounded. 

"Yeah. GO! EEVEE!" 

    "Veea!" The brown mouse had hardly hit the ground when it was charging Lewis. 

"Eevee! Nooooooo!!" Cassie yelled as her rebellious creature hit her friend in the chest with a resounding 'THUD!'. 

"Ow." Said Lewis, picking himself off the ground and holding out a Pokéball hesitantly. "Go… Jaws…" 

    With a flash of red light a fish appeared on the ground. As soon as it hit dirt it started to thrash wildly, cries of 'Karp karp karp!' escaping its gaping mouth. Cassie burst out laughing, despite the embarrassing antics of her newest team member, as she realised what it was. 

"You've… Got a… Magikarp! HAHAHAHAHAA!!" She gasped and giggled. 

Lewis glowered, "Yeah, well, Jaws'll be a mega strong Gyarados one day." The sight of the pathetic fish Pokémon flopping about on the ground removed a large portion of the conviction from his voice. 

    "Karp karp karp karpUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!" It croaked as Eevee Headbutted it in the side. 

"EEVEE!" Cassie shouted, resisting the urge to hit her head against a tree, "Can't you wait for an order?" 

"Vee." (no) He responded casually with a shrug of his little furry shoulders. 

Lewis returned his Magikarp to its Pokèball with a sigh, "Guess you win then." He handed her some money, "Use it to get that Eevee some manners." 

    Cassie sighed as they headed back to the Pokèmon centre. "Sorry about that. I hadn't actually used him yet so I didn't know what to expect…" 

Lewis shrugged, "No prob. Just train it some more before you fight me again." 

Cassie just sighed, she would happily bet that Sarah wouldn't have a Pokèmon that didn't obey her, the brown haired girl had a thing about control.     She and Lewis spent the next hour sitting about the Pokèmon centre while their Pokèmon were healed. The light that indicated healing in process seemed determined on staying lit, and that little bulb was stinking stubborn. 

    "So, Winona whipped Tom up good, right?" Cassie commented, scratching her Eevee behind the ears. 

"You should have seen the look on his face!" Lewis laughed, "Complaining about being beaten by a girl…" 

"Sexist freak." The blonde muttered. 

"…Of course," Lewis's tone went serious, "He then made me fight her too, even though Jaws was my only Pokèmon not fainted and I only wanted to get to the Pokèmon centre quick." 

    "Just wondering," Cassie put in after a moment of silence, "But why are you two friends? I mean, it sounds like he's just ruining your Pokèmon journey." 

Lewis nodded, "Yeah, he is. And I guess we're just friends because, well, we are…" 

    With a ting the light went out and Nurse Joy entered the room, 5 Pokèballs held in her arms. 

"Here you go!" She said, handing the balls to the trainers, "We hope to see you again and be careful out there!" 

As they exited the centre and started to walk along Route 117 Cassie couldn't help but comment, "If we see her again our Pokèmon have to be hurt. Perhaps she's evil, wanting our Pokèmon to be injured so she can heal them again and again and again until their minds are converted and she becomes their master!!" 

Lewis gave her a 'what are you on' look and shook his head, "You're loopy, Cass." 

The Pokèmon nodded in mutual agreement; they had a maddo in their midst. 

* * *

Okay people, I know this chapter isn't too good and I've taken AGES updating, but... well, writer's block and my account being locked (grrr. My 'What exactly is an Apricorn Anyway' fic wasn't evil! I just forgot a rule... or two) really didn't help. This chapter is a filler, so that's why it's so short. And it replaces that evil author's note (Blushes in humiliation) that I wrote before so I hope people have noticed! In fact, I'll post another "Chapter" just to make sure people see it. Now, N E wayz, to the reviewers... 

Keleri: Thanx for all the praise! I greatly appreciate it. And I probably will read your fic, once I'm done writing the next chapter for my own. Expect to see a review from me! ^_^ 

The Pokemon Breeder: Yeah, you're right, Taylor _does_ look like Snape! I just didn't notice... -_-' Shows how smart I am... 

Digifan1: You just got the game too? I got it on the first day it was released in England, so I've had it for about a month. It's a good game, but a little fast to complete... And Torchic is the best! Torchic rules! The only starter I prefer is Cyndaquil, but just because I prefer Quilava over Combusken. Good luck on whipping everything's butt! It's fun to win! 

ElementalZoidFighter: Hee hee, I caught Latias yesterday. :p As for a dragon scale, I think you have to win your way to the top of the battle tower some number of times. but I can't be sure. The Battle tower sucks though 'cause I can't use my Kyogre up there... ::glowers:: Stoopid battle tower... 

DarkAngelTorchic: Hey! Love your new pen name more! And you've got a female Torchic... How long did it take you to get that? I restarted several times in the attempt to get a female... But I'm still stuck ith a male. Very annoying. 

Topaz2: Woah! Thanx for all those tips! I'll make sure future battles are better and action scenes too, after your examples I actually feel like I could manage it. ::nods:: dankechen. I would have worked on everything this chapter, but I actually wrote it during my locked account time and before you submitted the review and I'm too busy typing away at the next chapter to redo this one. Yes, yes, I know, bad me, but I'm working on it! And to anyone else who didn't read Topaz's review; from now on translated Pokemon speech will either be in {} or italics like my other fic, RAVEN, depending on what reviewers decide. Thanx again for all your help! ^_^ 

The Pokemon Breeder: No, I guess not. The thing to remember about me is my general weirdness... Just don't mention anything that might blow up in my zaney mind and we might not experiance another embaressing episode as the last again... -_-' 

Siara Angel: Hey! Mind reader! I posted the fic under the name 'RAVEN' (but you allready reviewed so I guess you know that) and I did reload over the freaky author's note! Just a suggestion though, but why don't cha spell check your reviews? ::ducks:: eek! I was just trying to be usefulllll!   
P.S. Do ya think I should repost my humor DW fic? It's been christened 'Just What Exactly Is An Apricorn Anyway?' to relay its total insanity. What do ya think gal? 

ElementalZoidFighter: ::sigh:: Yup, that they did. Don't it suck? Hey, I'd still be using my 'SSDayrin Blooddragon' account if it weren't for some freak insisting that my 62 review fic needed to be rated higher! Grrrr, I lost 127 reviews total over that thing, as well as a stable account. Not that the new one's doing badly... Sorry 'bout your fic, ever wondered if the reporter peoplez are drawn to the fics that are doing well? It sux! Grrrr... 

::looks up at all the reviewer replies:: OoooOOOOoooooOOO, I really did take forever to update! There is no excuse for this! But still, I'm not going to pledge my every-day updating schedule due to some good advice from Topaz2. Quality over Quantity sound good peepos?? N e wayz, I must ride the wave of inspiration and write some more while I can sooooo, byez! ^_^ 

~Blade-chan 


End file.
